U.K. Airspace still closed

[saintgeorge]

Monday 08.00 GMT - U.K. airspace is still closed due to the eruption of the volcano in Iceland.

How is this affecting U.S. passengers regarding flights and/or cruises in Europe?

[vandalayceo]

According to the website Princess has only 1 cruise leaving a European port in April-the Grand out of Southhampton on April 24. People still have 5 days to get there. If it lasts in to May then they will have real chaos.

[shoreham01]

Good news, they are now saying that UK airspace will be open from tomorrow. They will start with Scotland in the morning and work their way down to the south of England, such as London Gatwick and Heathrow. These will be opened late tomorrow afternoon providing there are no further developments with the volcano. Phew. There will be a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief, although of course it will be days before aircraft are in the right place.

[golferdog]

Germany has just opened up 50 flights allowing 15,000 passengers to get home~~Hopefully everything else will soon follow

[bubbadog]

They said they did some test flights,and things were pretty good,but also said 2 f-16 jets went thru the cloud,and had some damage to engines,so hopefully tomorrow,they can do some flights:rolleyes:

[caribill]

Per Princess web site:

 

We have been receiving unprecedented demand for our trans-Atlantic cruises departing from the US over the coming days. We do have limited space available, and information can be obtained by calling your travel agent or 1-800-PRINCESS.

[shoreham01]

It has just been announced that flights from London Gatwick and Heathrow are unlikely to commence tomorrow as there is a new cloud heading our way. The northern airports are still set to open at some time tomorrow.

[cruiserus]

Thanks for all the updates from the UK! We are scheduled to fly from SF to Heathrow on May 1, then on to Cape Town, South Africa to board the Ocean Princess for a long cruise to Dover up the West Africa coast. At this point, we are praying hard that we will be able to go.

[caribill]

Thanks for all the updates from the UK! We are scheduled to fly from SF to Heathrow on May 1, then on to Cape Town, South Africa to board the Ocean Princess for a long cruise to Dover up the West Africa coast. At this point, we are praying hard that we will be able to go.

 

Did Princess make the flight reservations? If so, see if they can be changed for another route. You can get to Cape Town without going through Europe first.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Scotland opened for flights at 7.00am this morning and then was closed again, we are told to wait until 7.00pm for an up date.

 

Madrid airport is open and is going to be used as a hub air port,

 

with exta buses are being sent to get folk toFrance.

 

UK navy has taken some folk from Spain but most were troops on there way home.

 

News says there are tens of thousands of UK folk stuck in Spain,

 

anyone got a spare ferry or two.

 

yours Shogun

[Stevesan]

An excerpt from today's NY Times:

 

As Europe Reopens Skies, a New Cloud Looms

 

By ALAN COWELL and NICOLA CLARK

 

Published: April 20, 2010

 

LONDON — European authorities began easing six days of severe flight restrictions on Tuesday,

but a new ash cloud, reported to be spreading south from the erupting volcano in Iceland, threatened to thwart the effort to end the Continent’s worst aviation crisis.

[luvs2travl]

Monday 08.00 GMT - U.K. airspace is still closed due to the eruption of the volcano in Iceland.

How is this affecting U.S. passengers regarding flights and/or cruises in Europe?

 

We were due to leave this Saturday from FLL on the Star Princess for a re-positioning cruise to Northern Europe. We had "Cancel-for any-reason" insurance through Princess, and that's just what we did. Though we are terribly disappointed at not being able to do this cruise that we have planned one year for - I must tell you that we feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted from our shoulders. We will receive a voucher for 100% of everything we paid (less the insurance fees, of course) and will be applying it another Princess cruise this fall.

 

I doubt the volcano is finished yet and I'm sure everyone that is stranded over in Europe and elsewhere is about at their breaking point by now. I know I would be! Worrying & fretting about getting home while taking our cruise is not the way we wanted to spend our hard-earned money, nor our vacation time. I feel so badly for those folks left in limbo by the forces of nature. According to what we are hearing on the Weather Channel & other media sources, there is more to come from our Icelandic hot-head.

 

Our prayers & thoughts are with everyone trying to get home, or to wherever where they need to be.

[luvtocook]

Celebrity has sent it's brand new Eclipse to Spain to get approx 2000 stranded Brits this morning. Canceled some of it's pre-inaugural festivities until the naming cruise this Saturday. Maybe some other ships can come to help.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Hi All

 

Scotland opened for flights at 7.00am this morning and then was closed again, we are told to wait until 7.00pm for an up date.

 

Madrid airport is open and is going to be used as a hub air port,

 

with exta buses are being sent to get folk toFrance.

 

UK navy has taken some folk from Spain but most were troops on there way home.

 

News says there are tens of thousands of UK folk stuck in Spain,

 

anyone got a spare ferry or two.

 

yours Shogun

 

On the lunchtime news it sounded like those people who had managed to get to Santander or Madrid have been let down a bit by our government. There were supposed to be 100 coaches at Madrid Airport to ferry people up to the French channel ports but none have turned up (or even been ordered) and the much-hyped navy ship evacuation has not happened. The ship sent to Santander took mainly troops returning from Afghanistan (and rightly so - they need to get home to their families more than anyone else) and a few civilians with special needs but loads more were turned away.

 

Well done the cruise companies sending ships to help with the evacuation - it is a great advertising exercise as well.

[moiragirl]

All UK airspace open from 10.00pm tonight, approx. 10mins to go.

[Pochahontas]

All UK airspace open from 10.00pm tonight, approx. 10mins to go.

 

BA jumped the gun and landed in Heathrow a few minutes ago!

[Dorset Cruiser]

Yippee - roll on Majorca in May:D